Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-10-20
THREE MIRACLES.
EXPLANATORY NOTES BY REV. GEO.
p. HAYES, D. D., IL. o.

VS. Is, 10. Jairus' petition-Jairus had
left his child so low that he supposed she was
probably already dead. Verses IS and 10
show that in conduct, if not in words. Jesus
promised this ruler of the synagogue to grant
his request
VS. 90, 81. The woman's faith-A consid-
erable crowd followed the Saviour, and in
the midst of that crowd came this woman,
hoping not to be known. Whether her at
tempt at concealment was on account of her
peculiar disease, or from uncalled for mod
esty, or for fear she would not be healed, it
is not necessary for US to determine. What
ever was the reason, it seemed insufficient to
Christ; and yet not so insufficient as to pre-
vent his healing power over the disease.
To the locker on there was no manifesto
ton Of the presence of almighty power
When this woman touched the Saviour's gar
ment, her faith is shown in the touch of the
hem. In one aspect her faith was very great
and in another it was very weak She seems
to have had the impression that his power
was species of magic, and was communi-
Gated not by the act Of the will, but as if it
was sort of electrical current. Her mental
operations seem to have been strange mix
ture of faith and superstition and doubt.
counts of the other two evangelists, Christ
made special effort to call attention TO her
concealment. He was as conscious of the ex-
ertion of his power as she was conscious Of
its effect on her disease. Peter and the other
disciples little appreciated this marvellous
knowledge of Christ. How the Saviour's
questions must have smitten her conscience,
in her effort at concealmenti
VS.. %, "a Jairus' faith and courage-This
delay must have been extremely vexatious to
Jairus. Word came that all was lost so far
as his case was concerned, and that it was
now too late. Jairus had said his daughter
was at the point of death, if not already
dead. Could Jairus believe now? 1t was en-
couraging to find the Saviour not only speak
ing confidently, but continuing his journey
10 the house. 1t was also encouraging, at the
house, to have him say, as in verse "a, that
the maid was not dead. This suggestion from
him was met with scorn. This utterance,
however, stopped all suggestions about
swooning or fainting or anything of that
kind. After she had come to life again, if he
had not made that suggestion beforehand,
others might have made it afterwards. Now
was the time for those to speak who had any
thing to say against the genuineness of the
the people knew it was real death.
VS.. 25, 26 Restored-It was only simple
command of Christ, and she rose immedi-
ately, well and with a good appetite. She
was not restored to life simply, to be left
sickly as she had been before, but was wholly
well
VS.. 27-30. The blind-With all these stories
of Christ's cures floating around, of course the
blind hear of them. They had no doubt as
to the meaning of Christ's miraculous power.
1t was to them immediate proof of his Mes
siahship. They did not hesitate to profess
their faith in him as the Messiah. That was
precisely what was meant by their address,
"Thou Son of David" This name was then
as definite in its meaning as Messiah is now.
V. %. Their confession-Unlike the wo-
man, these made their confession when they
made their prayer; and yet Christ pressed
them for an explicit avowal of their faith in
his power, and made his blessing measure it
self by the fullness of their faith.
Why, in several cases, Christ forbade the
proclamation of his miracles is a mystery.
He seems very positively and energetically to
have forbidden it in the case of these blind
men. 1t is evident that they just as clearly
disobeyed his command. He may have for
hidden it lest he should be so overpressed
with applications for relief as to have no
time for preaching the gospel, or to prevent
the excited people from taking some public
step to proclaim his Messiahship.
SUGGESTIVE APPLICATIONS.
Y. 1S Come and lay thy hand upon her
The heavy hand of aff1iction had been laid
upon this poor child. 1t was the hand of
comfort and of healing that the father now
wished to be laid upon his child. 1t was a
beautiful and expressive simile borrowed
from the habit of priests and holy men laying
their hands upon a person in wishing or i'm
parting a blessing So the father would say
by the simile, your blessing will restore my
child.
" 20. Touched the hem of his garment
There are proud people who come like Naa-
man with a patronizing air and a lofty
demand that some great thing should be done
or some great display made in response to
their request for healing. Many of them go
away angry, and are not as wise as Naaman
to repent and obey and be healed. There is
another class timid and fearful and retiring,
like this nameless woman who crept near to
Christ not so much to steal blessing as to
get one unobserved. While the latter are
to be commended before the former, neither
class can be counted among those who take
ing from the Lord. A public confession was
virtually forced from the latter when it ought
to have come with ease and as the voluntary
expression of the soul that was conscious of a
cure
" 25. Took her by the hand, and the maid
arose-When Jesus takes our hand, a new
life is given US; though spiritually dead be-
fore, we are made alive by the divine touch
and stand before him with new power and
with fresh life.
HINTS FOR PRIMARY CLASSES.
The first miracle-A girl 10 years old was
so very i'll that every one thought she must
die. The father heard that Jesus was in
town, and went to ask him to cure her. The
servants followed to say, 1t is too late: she is
lead. But the father had great faith in
Jesus. He knew he could even raise the dead
to life. This was his only daughter, and he
loved her so dearly he would do anything TO
make her live Jesus went to the rulers
house, and found the people making great
noise, weeping and wailing, because the little
girl was dead People in eastern lands have
customs very different from ours When a
death occurs, persons are hired to come with
little instruments and make great show of
sorrow with loud noises of various kinds.
They howl and cry aloud, striking together
their bits of brass or wood, or humping a
sort of noisy drum.
Already the rulers house was filed and
surrounded by these noisy mourners. Jesus
commanded silence, and ordered every one
to leave except the parents and his three most
favored disciples, Peter, James and John.
When quiet was obtained, Jesus took the
hand of the dead maiden, and said, "Dsmsel,
I say unto thee arise" Immediately her
spirit came back into her body; she rose to
her feet and walked, and Jesus told them to
give her food.
The second miracle-This was on a woman
who had been ill for twelve years. She had
tried many physicians, and spent great deal
Of money in paying them and in buying med
icines, but grew worse rather than better.
However, she had heard Of Jesus and the
wonderful cures he had performed, and re-
solved to go to him. She had such great
faith in him she thought she might be cured
il she could just touch the hem Of his gar
ment The men in that country and other
eastern lands wear loose flowing gar
ments simply hemmed around the edge.
There was great crowd following Jesus, but
lint sick woman pressed through and touched